Chapter 19 | Tangled

Isabella:

Preparations for Sofia's birthday party were underway and with very little time to spare and the appearance of my father - my mother was going crazy.

"No not there you stupid twat, I said over THERE!" She screams causing my grandma to scurry away as fast as her elderly legs could take her looking absolutely petrified as I try to loosen the deathly grip my mother had on my wrist. Her nails dig into my skin and I wince.

"Ma," I hissed. "You're hurting me!"

She briskly drops my arm and throws me a sheepish look. "Right sorry, I'm just stressed." Peering down at the post it clasped in her other hand she scans over her mini to-do list. "Okay the last thing left to do is set out the table where the cake is going to go, you think you can manage that mija whilst I change Sof-PUTA!"

I jump back in shock at my moms abrupt tone and choice of vocabulary and follow her line of sight to see my father strolling into the garden. His eyes lock with my moms and narrow almost immediately. My mom crosses her arms across her chest protectively and I just watch as the two of them stare each other down with murderous gazes.

"Alright..." I begin, flitting my eyes back and forth between the two of them. "I, er, am gonna go get the table ready now, why don't you go upstairs and get Sofia in her outfit." When she doesn't budge from her spot, I grab my moms arm and drag her past my dad and back into the house.

I then send my dad packing to the grocery store to pick up more 'soda' for an entire hour whilst we get the rest of the party set up seeing as instead of helping, he's only getting my mother more riled up.

After I've dealt with the parents I whip my hair into a messy ponytail before heading into the shed to get the table out. I say ponytail but it's looks more like a rats nest with bits of hair escaping the band and framing my face.

I roll up the sleeves of my shirt and begin trying to drag the table out of the shed where it's jammed in between a handful of other junk that had been shoved into the shed when we came back from London. I tug and tug but alas it's no use, the thing doesn't bloody budge.

I lean over the table to try and push the other stuff away. What the hell is in here? Half of the junk weighs a ton and doesn't move at all when I try to push them to the side.

With a disgruntled grunt I stand back up straight and get out the shed muttering a bunch of obscenities under my breath.

"You need help with that?"

Bloody fucking hell. The voice startles me and I press a hand to my chest, shocked by the presence of someone standing right behind me.

In the dark I can barely make out the persons face, all I see are the shadows of a sharp nose, plump lips and a mop of unruly hair and by only those three features I already recognise the person.

"God Lucas you scared me," I huff stepping back into the light of the garden. I blink, trying to adjust to the sun. "What are you doing here anyways? The party doesn't start for another hour."

"I thought I would come round to see if you guys needed any help setting up." He runs a hand through his hair and glances over my head. "And by the looks of it I want right."

"No," I say stubbornly. "I got this."

"You sure?" He quirks an eyebrow as I nod and walk back into the shed.

I reach out once again and grasp the metal in my hand, pulling with all my might but it still doesn't bloody budge!

"C'mon please table just move!" I groan, pulling even harder than before, but still, there's no movement.

After a couple more tugs and grunts I come out of the darkness – empty handed. I look back at the table wedged in the middle of the shed before turning back to Lucas. I throw him a sheepish look. "Okay maybe I do need a little help."

He nods, pats me on the head like I'm a dog before strolling past me and into the darkness of the shed where I can no longer see him. I hear rattling about and a large thud.

"OUCH-that motherfucker-"

I briskly rush to the door. There are valuables in there and I can't risk any getting broken. Yup, that's the only reason for my concern. "Er Lucas," I call out. "Do you need me to help or something what was that noise-"

"GOT IT!"

I step back and see Lucas emerging with the table clutched in his hands, he carries it so effortlessly it's annoying. I could've done it that.

"That was easy," he tells me smugly.

"I just loosened it for you."

"Sure."

He dumps the table in my hands and my arms struggle under the weight of it, it clutters to the ground. I look down at the table pointedly. "Ah found the perfect spot for it."

Lucas chuckles and bends down to pick it up from where it's perched on the grass. "So where do you want this?" He asks and I point to the empty spot beside the tree and the drinks.

"Over there."

As we walk towards the spot, I struggle to keep up with his long strides. Even after the weight of the table in his hands, his steps are much quicker than mine.

I'm huffing and puffing by the time we reach the other side of the garden and as Lucas waits for me to catch up and get my breath steady, he looks around the garden at all the decorations hung up for the party.

"I love this party theme." He tells me, placing the table down on the grass and beginning to open it up.

"Thanks I love Tangled," I respond quite breathlessly. "It's my favourite."

"It is a good movie." He agrees and starts to straighten out the table legs and I get down to help him. "Who's your fave character?"

"Hmm." I stand back up and brush my hands on my leggings. "Let's see, I love Rapunzel of course but my favourite character has to be-" I look back up at Lucas and my mouth falls open as I suddenly notice what he's wearing. No fucking way. "EUGENE!"

Lucas chuckles. "Hey that's my favourite character too!"

"No." I raise a finger at him and point at his outfit accusingly. "Eugene."

"Huh?" He furrows his eyebrows before looking down at his body and realising what I'm talking about. "Oh right." He places his hands on his hips and spins around to showcase his clothes. "Do you like my outfit then?"

My mouths falls open further. "You're dressed as Eugene," I state dumbfoundedly as I pry my eyes across Lucas.

He's dressed perfectly. With his dark hair tousled and his outfit on point, he looks exactly like Flynn Ryder aka Eugene Fitzherbert from Tangled. Aka the character I had a fat crush on growing up.

My infatuation with Ryder and this movie had been passed along to Sofia who, to the say the least, is also obsessed with the Disney movie, so it's no surprise that her birthday party theme was also based on this film.

"Yeah I am," he grins widely. "How do I look?"

I shut my mouth closed and stop drooling. "You can't be Eugene because I'm dressing up as-" My eyes widen. "Oh no!"

***

"Oh stop being so dramatic," Mia tells me as I hide behind the tree, only peeking my head out from the side.

"You're talking about being dramatic?" Grace scoffs beside me. "Who was the one who threw a tantrum this morning when their mom wouldn't let them wear the dress they wanted to wear?"

Mia huffs. "Hey I wasn't being dramatic! My mom was! That dress was perfectly fine for this party, she was overreacting."

I throw my best friend a look "Mi, I saw the outfit picture, with all that boob you were showing, the babies at this party would've all come to you in search for their lunch."

She shoves me hard so that I'm pushed away from behind the tree. "Hey stop attacking me and stop steering the conversation away from you!"

I scramble back into my hiding space before I'm spotted. "You guys don't understand! I'm dressed up at Rapunzel and he's dressed up as Eugene, we're going to look like a couple!"

"And that's a bad thing because?"

"If we look like a couple we're going to have to act like a couple and I can't do that because I don't like Lucas!"

Grace sends me an incredulous look. "Okay I agree with Mia, you're being hella dramatic."

I groan defeatedly and slump behind the tree.

"Look," Mia begins. "I'm sure he's not going to be the only Eugene here and you're not going to be the only Rapuznel here so you'll be fine."

I look up at her warily. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Mia grabs me by the arm, hauling me up. "Now let's get out here, I want Jello!"

***

Mia was absolutely wrong. There is no one else dressed up as Eugene. In fact, literally no one got the memo about the whole Tangled theme costume thing. None of the adults are dressed up and the few children that are dressed up, are wearing costumes of various other characters that are certainly not from Tangled! I think I saw about ten little Elsa's running about!

Mia was certainly right about one thing however, I wasn't the only Rapunzel at the party.

"Ugh what are you doing here?" Dylan snarls, running a hand through his blond curls. Both Dylan and Aidan had arrived not too long ago dressed up as the Stabbington brothers. I almost stabbed the two of them when I saw their outfits; I had little hope left before they arrived, praying that one of the two would maybe also come as Ryder, but alas the two of them failed me and did not.

"Yeah what are you doing here? No one invited you," Mia adds, her eyes narrowed into slits.

Ivy rolls her eyes. "I'm babysitting her-" She points at one the kids dressed up as Maximus the horse. "So I got invited."

"Look you two are matching!" Lucas grins widely, pointing back and forth between the two of us, completely oblivious to the amount of hatred fuming out of the 5 of us towards his girlfriends unexpected appearance.

"Ugh I know." Ivy rolls her eyes again before looking down at me like I'm gum at the bottom of her shoe. She reaches out and tugs at one of the short brunette strands of my hair. "Isabelle your outfit is wrong, you don't have the right hair."

"My name is Isabella, with an a." I swat her hand away. "And you don't have the right hair either, you're ginger!"

Ivy crosses her arms across her chest protectively. "I'm actually strawberry blonde and my hair is more accurate than yours," she says in a matter-of-fact sort of way looking quite smug.

"No because I'm dressed up as Rapunzel after she gets her hair cut by Eugene."

"Ah," Ivy cocks her head to the side. "You're dressed up as Rapunzel when she gets that ugly haircut." She eyes me up and down. "Huh, no wonder you look like that."

I flinch and so do Mia and Grace beside me.

"Get lost Ivy," Mia growls, stepping forward. She's about to shove Ivy when Lucas briskly pulls his girlfriend to the side.

"Okay," he intervenes, stepping in between the two girls, now getting the memo that his girlfriend is unwanted here. "Ivy why don't you get yourself and me a drink."

Ivy rolls her eyes but does as she's told but not before throwing Mia and I a menacing look. I watch her retreating figure and eye how the costume looks on her. She looks so much better. The dress hugs Ivy in all the right places and is the perfect length, whereas on me, it's super baggy and super long, even after buying the smallest size.

I instinctively wrap my arms around myself, suddenly feeling super uncomfortable in my clothes. My stomach squeezes and I feel sick.

I knew wearing this dress was a bad idea. I look horrible.

No you don't. You look fine. It's not a big deal if the dress doesn't fit right, it's just a stupid costume.

But have you seen the way it looks on her and then the way it looks on you? You look terrible.

I try to shake away my inner turmoil and the unwanted thoughts reeling around in my head but it's no use, they don't disappear. My subconscious continues to chastise me for the way I look, nitpicking every detail and every insecurity I have, continuing to compare me to Ivy. My breathing hitches and everything around me suddenly feels too overwhelming and overbearing; the children laughing, the chatter of the adults, the smell of the party food; it's all too much to handle. It's too hot out here and I can barely breathe.

Grace and Mia immediately notice something is wrong and grab me by the shoulders. "C'mon Bella, lets get the fruit platters outside from the kitchen." Before I can protest, the two steer me inside, past the kitchen and upstairs into my room.

As I take a seat down on my bed my eyes catch my reflection in the mirror beside my window and I'm stilled by the view

You look disgusting. I continue to tell myself. Too thin. Too ugly. You're never going to be pretty. You weren't when you were fat and you're still not even now that your thin.

Tears well up in my eyes and sob catches itself in my throat. My breath comes out in short, fast, ragged breaths and I suddenly feel suffocated. I hear Grace and Mia speaking to me but I can't apprehend what they're saying. All I can focus on is that voice in my head and the fact I can't breathe.

━

AUTHORS NOTE:

So um I don't know if I like this chapter, I can't tell if it's cringey or not and I'm not sure if I portrayed Bella's panic attack properly but uhhh we movveee lol.

UPDATE: righttttt...this chapter is pure SHIT, I'm very sorry, I'll try editing it soon :o

Also wattpad is being weirdddd, it won't let me add songs to the chapters anymore :(

Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, love you all - Mai x